APEC progresses well with four cooperation priorities

NDO/VNA – The Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) has made good progress in the four adopted cooperation priorities in 2017 proposed by Vietnam, said Executive Director of the APEC Secretariat Alan Bollar on the sidelines of the APEC Second Senior Officials’ Meeting underway in Hanoi.

Bollar said during the APEC Economic Leaders’ Meeting 2016 in Peru, APEC leaders delivered a clear message of focusing more on inclusive growth so that a number of initiatives on regional economic integration, trade and investment were raised at this year’s meeting.

Alison Mann, Director General of the Asia-Pacific Regional Integration Division under the New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, said New Zealand highly values Vietnam’s proposals and stands ready to work closely with Vietnam in such efforts along the way.

On the prospect of the Free Trade Area of the Asia-Pacific (FTAAP), Bollar said APEC’s action programme on free trade and several works are ongoing.

Mann, for her part, said New Zealand is awaiting the completion of trade agreements to open markets to the Asia-Pacific, stressing that it takes time to complete FTAAP and a lot of effort to achieve its goals.

As Chair of the Working Group on Free Trade Agreements, New Zealand will help member economies devise action programmes to clear obstacles to trade liberalisation, she said.

About the future of APEC after 2020, Mann said New Zealand will promote the agenda until 2021 and is partnering with Vietnam and other member economies on the issue.